The present invention relates to a tool for greasing wheel bearings and more particularly to a grease dam for ensuring proper fill of grease within the hub cavity prior to installing the outer bearing.
Greasing a wheel hub assembly is well known in the art. Heretofore, it has been the practice to first pack the inner bearing with grease and position the inner bearing within the hub and mount the hub and inner bearing upon the spindle. Grease is spread by hand uniformly about the grease cavity within the hub which is manually positioned in alignment on the spindle to receive the grease uniformly prior to mounting the outer bearing. Once grease is installed within the grease cavity the outer bearings are installed and secured to the spindle. The nut assembly and hub cap are then secured. However, because [of] the consistency of the grease is much like molasses, it is impossible to fill the hub cavity more than 30%, as much of the grease will simply leak out of the end of the hub assembly prior to installing the outer bearing and hub cap. Such insufficient filling of grease within the hub cavity results in premature bearing failure due to a lack of lubrication. Current standards call for filling the hub cavity with grease to at least 50% of the cavity volume. The present invention provides a simple tool for proper filling of grease during assembly of the wheel hub/spindle assembly without the need for complicated wheel end arrangements or greasing tool devices.
It is an object of the invention to provide a tool for properly filling a wheel hub cavity with grease as well as a method for its use that is superior to the prior art.
The present invention is directed to a removable grease dam tool to facilitate proper filling of grease within a wheel hub assembly. A grease dam is placed adjacent an outer surface of a wheel hub that is rotatably mounted to a spindle. The grease dam blocks at least 50% of the exposed area between the wheel hub and spindle and leaves a top portion open to allow grease to be injected into the inner cavity of the wheel hub. A portion of the grease dam is disposed within the wheel hub between the heel hub and spindle to simulate the presence of the outer bearing assembly. Once the inner cavity of the wheel hub is filled with grease beyond a 50% fill level, the grease dam is removed and the outer bearing assembly is immediately thereafter installed. The tool prevents leakage of grease during assembly to ensure at least a 50% fill level. A handle is provided to facilitate manipulation by a user.